I-T DEPT RAIDS PREMISES LINKED TO DESHMUKH IN TAX EVASION CASE
The investigation wing of the Income Tax (I-T) department conducted searches on Friday at the residence and offices of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur, Mumbai and Pune for suspected tax evasion.
According to people familiar with the matter, multiple I-T teams held search operations from Friday morning till evening. In Nagpur, Deshmukh’s residence was searched by I-T officials accompanied by personnel from central security forces. The Nagpur city police deployed additional security outside the residence as many of the leader’s supporters gathered outside following the searches, said a senior police officer.
The tax department neither shared any details nor released a statement in connection with the searches. Deshmukh was not available for a comment.
The former minister has been at the centre of controversies this year. On August 23, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a charge sheet against his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde in a money laundering case, in which the former minister is the main accused. The charge sheet also includes a statement from dismissed Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze, one of the accused in the Antilla bomb scare case, and in the murder of Mansukh Hiran. “The I-T department’s action against Deshmukh is very surprising as his tax assessments are clear. It is nothing, but pure political harrasment,” Deshmukh’s lawyer Inderpal Singh said.